Thread: NE-Immigrant Tuition Sparks Heated Debate

Immigrant Tuition Sparks Heated Debate
POSTED: 2:12 pm CST February 1, 2010
UPDATED: 6:42 pm CST February 1, 2010

Comments (21)

LINCOLN, Neb. --
Opponents and supporters of a measure that allows some illegal immigrants in Nebraska to get in-state tuition made their arguments to lawmakers on Monday.

A legislative hearing was scheduled for a bill (LB1001) that would repeal the 3-year-old law. It is meant for students whose parents brought them to the United States illegally.

To be eligible for in-state tuition at state colleges, they must have graduated from Nebraska high schools, lived in the state for at least three years and be pursuing or promise to pursue legal status.

State Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont introduced the bill to repeal the law. He says the law conflicts with federal law and that he doesn't think taxpayers should subsidize tuition for illegal immigrants.

Supporters of the bill said it's unfair to law-abiding students from outside of Nebraska to pay three times the tuition rates that in-state students pay.

"It's a slap in the face to ask Nebraskans to subsidize illegal aliens while Americans are denied," said Susan Smith.

Supporters also said the bill gives students false hope.They can't be legally hired once they get their diploma, and that can set them back when they try to gain legal status.

"You need to go back to your home country if you want to live the American dream, and apply for a student visa," said Kris Kobach.

But opponents of the bill said such a demand would be devastating.

"How do you tell somebody to go back home when they've lived here for so long," said Marlin Perez.

She read a letter from one of the 35 illegal immigrants enrolled in the university.

"If the law changes, my chances of becoming a college grad and positive member of my country will be shattered," she read.

That's why education officials pleaded not the change a law that has given hope to so many.

"If the promise is you will pay three times what your neighbors will pay, we feel that discourages even high school completion, let alone going on to college," said University of Nebraska President J.B. Miliken

http://bit.ly/aHO4X3

someone please homepage this article and provide a link to it in our FOCUS Campaign for NE

W

Related article from the Lincoln Journal Star:

Senators hear arguments on repealing Nebraska Dream Act
By JoANNE YOUNG Lincoln Journal Star
Posted: Monday, February 1, 2010 8:15 pm

State Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont introduces LB1001, a bill that would repeal the law that allows undocumented students to be eligible for in-state tuition at Nebraska colleges and universities.

Maria Flores was 17 in 1999 and about to begin her senior year in high school in Mexico when she came to Nebraska with her mother and four younger sisters.

She thought the family was on vacation, until at the end of the summer no suitcases came out to pack and return home.

When she asked her mother, an elementary teacher in Mexico, about it, her mother would say only that staying in Nebraska was the best for all of them.

But in Nebraska, because of her language needs, Flores was sent back to ninth grade. She was mad at her mother and her situation. She eventually came around to the idea, however, and graduated from high school.

Flores was undocumented when she began college in 2003 at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, a divorced mother with two children and two part-time jobs. Since then, she gained legal status, and she graduated from UNK in December.

She will become a U.S. citizen next year, she told senators Monday afternoon when she testified on a bill (LB1001) that would repeal the Nebraska Dream Act. She opposed the bill that would take the opportunity away from undocumented students to get in-state tuition from Nebraska's colleges and universities.

Flores lives in Grand Island and works as a bank teller. She has many community connections she wouldn't have without a college degree, she said. And she would probably be supporting her sons by working in restaurants.

Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont, who introduced the bill, said the public was confused about the passage of the Dream Act in 2006, and some were disappointed. He was asked about it more than any issue in his 2008 campaign for the Legislature, he said.

Fewer than 50 undocumented students are receiving in-state tuition at Nebraska's colleges and universities.

Janssen said the Dream Act violates federal law and encourages illegal behavior. And it gives students who cannot work legally in this country false hope.

Kris Kobach, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City who supports repeal of the Nebraska law, said there is no avenue for the students to someday become legal residents.

Once 18, they take on illegal status in their own names, he said. And after a year, if discovered, they can be sent back to their home countries and cannot return for at least 10 years, he said.

Nebraska taxpayers subsidize the students who are not legal residents but pay in-state tuition, he said, because the value of the education is worth more than in-state tuition covers.

Last week, Kobach filed a lawsuit in Jefferson County District Court challenging the Dream Act on behalf of several students. The lawsuit names members of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents as defendants.

Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery, an Education Committee member, said there are various ways to interpret the federal law proponents claim has been violated.

If the state is violating federal law, several senators asked why the U.S. Attorney isn't demanding the university shut it down.

"What do we gain by what appears to be a punitive piece of legislation?" Avery asked Kobach.

It would be almost impossible, short of federal amnesty, for the students to become legal residents, Kobach said.

Garrett Roe, an attorney with the Immigration Reform Law Institute who is working with Kobach, said the bill does not seek to ban undocumented students from attending college, although it would be better for them to return to their home countries.

Sen. Abbie Cornett of Bellevue said she was one of the senators who voted to override the governor's veto of the Dream Act, and she does not support repeal.

What disturbs her, she said, is the proponents' idea that these students should leave the United States and go home. They've been here for years, she said. This has become their home.

Marlin Perez read senators a letter from an unnamed, undocumented student attending a Nebraska college. The student, whom she called Joey, came from Mexico and has lived in Nebraska 13 years, she said.

As it is, Joey wrote, "I am barely keeping up financially."

"Moving to Nebraska was to keep my family from hunger and to give me a better future."

"LB1001 will be devastating for my future. I want to be a helpful part to my community. Please let me."

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.

http://www.journalstar.com/news/local/g ... mode=story

Another related story from the Journal Star:

President James B. Milliken
University of Nebraska
February 1, 2010

Senator Adams and members of the Education Committee, my name is James B. Milliken and I am President of the University of Nebraska. I am here to express the University's opposition to LB 1001 and our continued support for all Nebraska high school graduates who want to pursue the dream of an affordable college education in our state.

Since 2006, Nebraska law has provided the opportunity for some students who are not citizens or legal residents of the state to attend a public college or the University of Nebraska and pay resident tuition rates. Last fall, 35 of these students attended one of our four campuses (17 at UNO, 15 at UNK, 3 at UNL and none at UNMC). We think it is in the best interest of these and future students-and perhaps more importantly, in the best interest of the State of Nebraska-that this law remains intact.

The main purpose of offering resident tuition to undocumented students is to encourage them to stay in high school and be successful, prepare for further education, and go to college. Since many of these students drop out of high school when they realize that they will not be able to attend college, offering them the opportunity to attain a more affordable college education may also encourage more of them to perform well and graduate from high school. (The current drop-out rate nationally for undocumented immigrant high school students is around 50 percent.)

Last fall, I joined with Governor Heineman and the co-sponsors of the Nebraska P-16 Initiative to announce a new set of education goals for Nebraska. They include improving our high school graduation rate to 90 percent (currently at 82.2 percent), our college-going rate to the top-10 tier nationally (currently 19th), and providing affordable access for Nebraska students to attend Nebraska's postsecondary institutions. At a time when our state and our country are aggressively working to raise the level of educational attainment, repealing a state law that promotes these goals is counterproductive at best.

For generations, the U.S. led the world in the proportion of young adults (age 25-34) with a college degree. But today, we have fallen to ninth place. In Japan, Korea and Canada, more than 50 percent of young adults hold college degrees, compared to only 41 percent in the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says more than 60 percent of the fastest growing jobs in our country now require more than a high school diploma, and the Lumina Foundation estimates there will be a shortage of 16 million college-educated adults in the U.S. workforce by 2025.

At a time when demand for college-educated workers is increasing, the high school population in Nebraska is declining. In 2007-08 we had nearly 21,000 high school graduates in the state. That number continues to decline, is expected to reach a low in 2014 and not to return to the 21,000 level again until 2020. By 2020, the ethnic makeup of the high school graduating class also will have changed dramatically, from about 83 percent white non-Hispanic this year to just 70 percent in 2020.

This demographic shift will create new challenges for Nebraska, as well as new opportunities. The workplace of tomorrow will be more culturally diverse than we can imagine-and we must recognize the importance of increasing minority enrollments to our state's economic future.

Nebraska's Latino population was the nation's 10th-fastest-growing last decade, adding an average of 6,000 Latinos a year according to the Pew Hispanic Center. The Immigration Policy Center reports that immigrants made up 5.6 percent of the state's population and 6.5 percent of its workforce in 2007, with about 30,000 of these workers "unauthorized." These New Americans are integral to the state's economy and account for tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue and consumer purchasing power. Nebraska led the nation in the percentage increase in revenue generated by Latino business owners from 1997 to 2002 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And immigrant spending accounted for $1.6 billion of total production in Nebraska's economy and generated roughly 12,000 jobs according to a study by UNO.

Approximately 65,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from American high schools every year-often unable to afford college without access to resident tuition or government-backed federal or state financial aid. The ability of these young people to contribute to the economic growth of our state and our country, and to their own self-sufficiency, depends in large measure on their ability to further their education.

These students are guaranteed access to public elementary and secondary schools by a 1982 Supreme Court ruling which held that a state cannot deny undocumented children a free public K-12 education. Restricting the opportunity for these same children to have access to an affordable higher education denies them economic, social and intellectual benefits that will serve both them and our state well in the future.

Educational attainment is one of the most important predictors of an individual's economic success and quality of life. There is a million-dollar difference, over a lifetime, between the earning capacity of a high school graduate and a college graduate. Research also shows that people who go to college are healthier, are more likely to volunteer and to participate in their community, and are less likely to be incarcerated and rely on public assistance.

Currently, there are no federal or state laws prohibiting undocumented immigrant students from attending public or private colleges, nor are there laws requiring proof of U.S. citizenship or legal permanent residence with a college application.

Opponents of in-state tuition policies argue that a provision in a 1996 immigration reform act prohibits states from granting postsecondary education benefits to undocumented immigrants on the basis of state residence unless equal benefits are made available to all U.S. citizens. Ten states (California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin) have passed laws that base in-state tuition eligibility not on state residence but rather on attendance at or graduation from an in-state high school. Several of these laws, including Nebraska's, are being challenged, while other suits-including one in Kansas filed by the same attorney who filed in Nebraska-have been dismissed.

The current Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (The "DREAM Act") under consideration in Congress likely would put an end to the current legal debate by repealing the federal immigration act provision and leaving the issue of resident tuition to the states. It would also open up federal education aid to students brought into the U.S. illegally before age 16 and create a path to citizenship for students who graduate from an American high school and complete two years of college, military service or employment.

The University of Nebraska supports the extension of postsecondary educational opportunity to undocumented immigrant children in Nebraska who meet the conditions established in current state law. The Board of Regents adopted a policy in 2005 which says:

Education is the key to improving economic opportunity for individuals, and increasing the level of educational attainment in the state is critical to the economy and quality of life in Nebraska. Therefore, it is the policy of the Board of Regents to support affordable access to higher education for all Nebraskans who are prepared for admission to the University. The Board has special concern for providing increased educational opportunities for underrepresented minorities, so that all people of Nebraska may enjoy the demonstrable benefits of a quality college education. While the Board of Regents in no way condones illegal immigration, it does support the extension of educational opportunity, at resident tuition rates, to undocumented immigrants who have attended and graduated from Nebraska high schools and have officially initiated action to become permanent residents of Nebraska.

Prior to the passage of LB 239 in 2006, undocumented students likely would have been classified as international students and required to pay nonresident tuition, which is two to three times the rate paid by resident students. But the more likely scenario is that many of them would not have been in a position to attend college at all since undocumented students are ineligible for most federal and state financial aid. It is important to remember that these students are not receiving a free college education, but one at the same cost any other Nebraskan would pay.

Public policies such as the one adopted by this body open the doors of higher education to those who need it most. I believe it is in the best interests of the State of Nebraska that students who meet the test established by the Legislature continue to be treated as residents for purposes of postsecondary education.

Please ensure that every Nebraska student has a clear pathway to college by rejecting LB 1001.

Thank you. I would be pleased to answer any questions.

http://www.journalstar.com/article_2d22 ... 002e0.html

But opponents of the bill said such a demand would be devastating.

"How do you tell somebody to go back home when they've lived here for so long," said Marlin Perez.

Don't care, not our problem. You want to go to college? Then pay the full fare. Illegal aliens should be paying the International student rates, not even out-of-state rates. Can't afford it? Too bad, so sad..go to college in your home country then.

Another related story from the Journal Star:

Education leaders: Keep in-state tuition for some illegal immigrants
StoryDiscussionBy JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, January 28, 2010 5:10 pm | (32) Comments

..Related Stories
Related: Bill would keep undocumented students from getting in-state tuition
Related: 2010 legislative session
The heads of seven Nebraska educational institutions and organizations repeated their endorsement Thursday of a law that offers in-state tuition to undocumented students.

"We are writing to express our continued support for all Nebraska children who wish to pursue the dream of an affordable postsecondary education in our state," they wrote in a letter to the Legislature's Education Committee.

The directors and administrators included University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken, Nebraska State College System Chancellor Stan Carpenter and state Commissioner of Education Roger Breed.

On Monday, the Education Committee will hear public testimony on a bill (LB1001), introduced by Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont, that would bar undocumented students from paying in-state tuition at Nebraska colleges and universities. In 2006, students who have lived in Nebraska at least three years, graduated from a state high school and signed affidavits that they will seek legal status when eligible gained the opportunity for in-state tuition.

The educational leaders also endorsed that 2006 bill, which passed over the veto of Gov. Dave Heineman.

"As leaders of Nebraska's educational community, we urge you not to advance LB1001 from committee and to keep the dream alive for these students," they said.

The reason for offering these students in-state tuition is to encourage them to go to college, they said. Nationally, about half of undocumented high school students drop out of high school when they realize they can't afford to further their education. More affordable tuition may encourage them to perform well and graduate from high school, the group said.

"At a time when our country and our state are aggressively working to raise the level of educational attainment, repealing a state law that promotes these goals is counterproductive at best," they said.

Forty-four undocumented students are taking advantage of the Nebraska dream act. Thirty-five are in the University of Nebraska system (17 at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, three at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 15 at the University of Nebraska at Kearney), eight are at community colleges, and one attends a state college.

Nine states besides Nebraska have dream acts, including Kansas, Texas and New Mexico.

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.

http://www.journalstar.com/news/local/g ... 03286.html

ALIPAC's Nebraska Focus Campaign

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1010257.html#1010257

Added to homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article-4887--0-0.html

I have been to MANY public hearings opposing illegal immigration in Nebraska BUT I can tell you that the EDUCATION COMMITTEE came out, in my opinion, knowing they were going to kill this bill. The Senators filibustered the proponents by making speeches built into their "questions" killing almost the entire allotted hour. Luckily the Chairman substracted Sen. Janssen's bill introduction time and allowed me and two other proponents to testify. Here is my testimony:

"My Name is Susan Smith (name spelled out) I am testifying on behalf of Nebraskans Advisory Group, a group of concerned citizens who volunteer their time and efforts.

In 2006, 30 of our senators, two of whom are on this committee, Sens. Howard and Cornett, voted to give Illegal Aliens In State Tuition rates.
This is disturbing because:

.....It shows a FAILURE of our legislators to UPHOLD its basic, FIDUCIARY responsibility to properly channel taxpayer funds.

.....It shows us that our Legislature is willing to BREAK LAWS by voting for a bill that is NOT in COMPLIANCE with federal immigration laws.

.....It shows us that Nebraskans have to wonder how much of our tax dollars are being, IN ESSENCE, hi-jacked - embezzled - or misdirected to further the Socialist agenda of some of our legislators.
....And finally, it is a SLAP in the face to ask Nebraskans to subsidize education privileges to Illegal Aliens while American children are denied. At 18 years of age these ADULTS are no longer "under their parents control" and can choose to return to their country of origin...AND just how many of these 44 students have ACTUALLY APPLIED for citizenship?

...and if you cut off their benefits, services and income they will SELF-DEPORT......We are already mandated to pay for K- 12 now you are asking us to pay for their higher education and THEN COMPETE for JOBS?!? Check the IRS 2006 Report of Unreported Earnings and you will find that the IRS attributes over 1 trillion dollars to Illegal Aliens who do not pay taxes!

I'm asking this committee to leave the LAWBREAKING to the CHURCHES and COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS who aid, abet, induce, encourage or harbor Illegal Aliens - Sec 8 USC 1324....and to VOTE to ADVANCE LB1001 to the floor.

Thank you for your time."

There were no questions as I looked each one of those Ultra Liberal SOBs right in the face - these Senators pulled EVERY Ultra Liberal card in the book...including implying that FAIR, CIS were RACIST organizations according to the Southern Poverty Law Center and that Kris Kobach was affiliated with these organizations and a Racist too. Then attorney Garrett Roe testified....three of the Senators took up almost an hour "speeching/posing theoretical questions and asking for his personal opinions about why the Federal Government required us to pay for K - 12 and NOT college.....Sen Abbie Cornett told Professor Kobach that she had supported the Instate Tuition bills and that she was going to vote this bill down (her face all red and angry) then got up and walked out of the hearing. Sen Brad Ashford posed his theoretical nonense burning up the rest of proponent time. I will have a full report including their questions/ comments posted on my website by Feb 3, nebraskansadvisorygroup.org

The Education Committees' Email Addresses are:
gadams@leg.ne.gov ghoward@leg.ne.gov bashford@leg.ne.gov
bavery@leg.ne.gov acornett@leg.ne.gov bgiese@leg.ne.gov
khaar@leg.ne.gov ksullivan@leg.ne.gov

Neb. lawmakers to hear in-state tuition arguments
By NATE JENKINSMonday, Feb 01, 2010 - 07:15:32 pm CST

An attempt to repeal a law granting in-state tuition to some illegal immigrants in Nebraska is in jeopardy and may not be debated by the full Legislature this year.

Dozens of supporters and opponents of the 2006 law that made Nebraska one of 10 states in the country that allows some illegal immigrants to get in-state tuition at state-funded colleges crowded a Capitol room to plead their cases to the Legislature's Education Committee.

But comments from committee members indicated most of them may not want to help repeal the law that has been a lightning rod in the immigration debate in Nebraska.

"Sadly, I don't think it will advance out of committee," the bill's sponsor, Sen. Charlie Janssen of Freemont said after stepping out of the committee room. "Members of the Education Committee will have some explaining to do," to the public.

The law allows illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition if they graduated from Nebraska high schools, lived in the state for at least three years and are pursuing or promise to pursue legal status. According to legislative fiscal analysts, 37 illegal immigrants are paying in-state tuition at the University of Nebraska.

On Monday, five of the Education Committee's eight members either expressed opposition to the repeal bill or four years ago voted in favor of in-state tuition for some illegal immigrant. However, a majority of lawmakers who responded to an Associated Press survey last year said they would support rescinding the law.

The in-state tuition bill has a history of igniting fervent public debate over immigration, and rendering political consequences.

Gov. Dave Heineman vetoed the in-state tuition bill in 2006, but the Legislature overrode his veto. Many voters in the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary said they chose Heineman over Tom Osborne, a sitting U.S. representative and wildly popular former Nebraska football coach, because Osborne supported the tuition bill.

Opponents say the law is unfair to legal residents and conflicts with a 1996 federal law that prohibits higher education institutions giving benefits to illegal immigrants without offering the same break to U.S. citizens.

Last month, Kansas attorney Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the law. The lawsuit names the University of Nebraska Board of Regents and other state college boards as defendants.

State Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln told Kobach during testimony at the public hearing that repealing the law would amount to "punishing children for the misdeeds of their parents." The law is meant for students whose parents brought them to the U.S. illegally.

Kobach said the law helps subsidize an illegal work force. He also said most students won't be able to use the degrees because they won't be able to attain legal status.

"U.S. citizens are paying two times as much, U.S. citizens aren't breaking the law," he said in response to Avery.

Another member of the committee took umbrage with comments from some supporters of the bill that illegal immigrants should return home to the countries from which they came, enter the U.S. legally, then get an education.

"What is your definition of home if you've been raised here your whole life?" said Sen. Abbie Cornett of Bellevue, who opposes the bill.

A letter from an illegal immigrant using the in-state tuition law, read by Marlin Perez, said that repealing the law would be devastating to his future.

WE SHOULD NOT BE TALKING ABOUT THIS. ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS MUST BE DEPORTED NOW. THEY DO NOT HAVE RIGHTS. PERIOD.